After much, much, much speculation, Microsoft let the cat out of the bag today: due to weak results, Microsoft is going to cut 5000 jobs. Those 5000 jobs will disappear over the course of 18 months, with 1400 jobs being cut immediately. Quarterly results, as well as the cost-cutting measures, were made known in a press release today.

If you're redundant you're redundant. Why should a company who no longer needs your services be forced to keep you on because once upon a time they needed you.

Keep in mind when times are good employees can jump around from job to job with no loyalty either in order to maximise their take home. So it seems fairly equitable to me. When you don't need their job anymore you leave, when they don't need your services they give you a severance package and off you go.